barbecue chicken enchiladas

Hi ELR readers!

I’m Jessica from How Sweet It Is and I’m thrilled to be sharing a delicious recipe with you today.

See, enchiladas are a staple in our house.

They are one of the first meals that I ever cooked for my husband (long before he became my husband), and I consider them to be… ammunition, if you will. If I need the dishes washed? I make enchiladas. If I want the bathrooms cleaned? Enchiladas are in the oven. Need someone to run to the store? Enchiladas.

He asks me to make enchiladas at least two or three times a month and the dish doesn’t look like it’s gettin’ old anytime soon. While we absolutely adore traditional enchiladas (Mexican is my favorite cuisine), recently I decided to spice things up and make a twist on our beloved enchiladas. Enter barbeque sauce and caramelized onions.

Second only to the famous enchiladas, barbeque chicken and caramelized onions rank obviously high on the list of things we love to eat. The wheels started turning one day and I thought, “what if I combined enchiladas and barbeque? Could it even be done?”

I’ll answer that for you in three words: sweet, spicy and cheesy. Obviously I had to attempt.

I made a barbeque enchilada sauce by mixing traditional enchilada sauce with our favorite barbeque sauce, and swapped the usual pepper and onion mix with sweet slices of caramelized onions. Finished off with some sharp cheddar cheese, they took enchiladas to an entirely new level.

And do you know what would make a fabulous dish? Jenna’s Cuban black beans. It doesn’t get any better than that.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on low-medium heat. Add sliced onions with a pinch of salt, and let caramelize until soft and golden – about 10 minutes. While onions are cooking, pour enchilada sauce into a bowl and whisk in your favorite BBQ sauce until combined. Taste and decide if you’d like to add more BBQ sauce.

Add shredded chicken to onions with BBQ seasoning and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly until combined. Pour in about 1/2 cup of enchilada/BBQ sauce mixture, and add 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup colby cheese. Stir until mixture comes together and turn off heat.

Pour a drizzle of enchilada/BBQ sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Take each tortilla and fill it with about ½ cup of chicken mixture. Roll each up and set it in the baking dish. Dump remaining enchilada/BBQ sauce on top of tortillas and add remaining cheese. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately.

Wow, these look great. My kitchen can’t keep up with all these great ideas. I tried the cuban black beans on Monday and they were totally worth the 2 hours it took to make them. This would go great with them. Next up in my kitchen stadium…Enchiladas!!

Yum! My family and boyfriend are big fans of barbecue chicken pizza. I’m sure they would love this! I’m getting tired of making my Mexican lasagna for them, so this is definitely a Mexican(ish) recipe I should bookmark! Thanks!

amyjogo

March 25, 2011 at 4:01 am

Make sure that you buy the freshest corn tortillas you can find. When you bed the package, you don’t want to see crumbs shaking around. When you’re ready to make the enchilada, let your torts come to room temp so they are pliable. Also, you can dip each one in hot oil before rolling. When I say dip, I mean dip…don’t let them sit. I know it’s not healthy so that’s why I say you try to let them warm to room temp first. Good luck!

Hi Jessica! Thanks for sharing this recipe. These look so delicious, I love shaking up traditional meals Do you think they would freeze well? I usually just cook for myself and love having things in the freezer for nights when I really don’t feel like doing any work.

It’s def the same in our house Jessica. We both LOVE Mexican food and ench’s are one of our favorite things to eat. I love to buy a rotisserie chicken and have that on hand incase B gets an intense craving… and that happens a lot! SO, when I make them I always make a little extra so I can freeze a lunch portion for him for a day the following week(s). He loooooves when I whip out a freshly frozen portion as a a suprise ‘treat’ lunch.

i feel like enchiladas are just so versatile – last week i made buffalo chicken enchiladas – stuffed corn tortillas with shredded buffalo chicken, topped with taco sauce, grated pepper jack and cilantro. amazing!

gia

March 24, 2011 at 11:08 am

I wonder if you could add frozen spinach inside to add veg. I bet that would be good! And maybe mixed with ricotta! Love the idea of bbq sauce, will definetely try this!!!!!! And I’ve never even made enchiladas before.

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